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Matt Kenseth ready to rule Sprint Cup field at Phoenix

When the No. 20 is unloaded at Phoenix International Raceway today, Matt Kenseth and his Joe Gibbs Racing teamwon’t have many reminders of the race that effectively eliminated their Toyota from championship contention last year.

PHOENIX – The most recent Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway was an eminently forgettable experience for Matt Kenseth and his Joe Gibbs Racing team.

When the No. 20 is unloaded at the 1-mile track today for the first time since a 23rd-place finish Nov. 10, driver and crew thankfully won’t have many reminders of the race that effectively eliminated their Toyota from championship contention last year.

“The only thing that’s the same as last year at Phoenix is the body on our Camry and the Goodyear tire,” said crew chief Jason Ratcliff. “Parking (the) trucks is different, qualifying is different, the way we set the cars up is different, and it’s just a ton of changes this weekend. We’ve been trying to prepare for all this as soon as NASCAR gives us the rules, but some of these rules are still trickling in, so it’s tough.

“I feel that we’ve done a pretty good job preparing for all these new elements, and I think it’ll show who’s the most prepared.”

Because of the absence of restrictor plates, the first event after the Daytona 500 has been hailed for years as the start of the “real” season as teams discard the specialized cars of Speedweeks.

But The Profit on CNBC 500 looms as even more of a makeover for the garage, which already will look different as haulers are arranged by teammates rather than by points standings.

As NASCAR seeks to engender more action with the Gen 6 car in its second season, there are a bevy of new rules that Brad Keselowski said “make the car drive drastically different. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. We won’t know until we line them up, but it’s definitely a radical departure.”

The most significant alteration might be the abolition of a minimum front end height. That should help teams keep their cars glued to the track without the use of exotic, thinner springs. Team owner Michael Waltrip said it’s the biggest rule change of three decades in NASCAR because “it’s changed the way you look at setups completely.” The goal is to provide more options to improve handling and enhance passing.

“It has opened up the toolbox to a lot of different things you can do to get your car where you want it,” Kenseth said. “I’m really curious to see how it all works because somebody’s going to hit it on the head and somebody’s not. I think that creates more passing and more interesting racing.”

Another intriguing twist in NASCAR’s premier series is the introduction of group qualifying at Phoenix. Eradicating the mind-numbing tradition of single qualifying laps in one session, the starting lineup will be determined over two rounds with drivers qualifying en masse. Following a 30-minute opening session and a 10-minute break for adjustments, 12 cars will advance to a 10-minute battle for the pole.

“There could possibly be some gamesmanship on making sure a guy doesn’t have a good lap,” Denny Hamlin said. “Everyone is going to be fighting to get on the racetrack as soon as they can. It’s going to be a game-changer.”